A great race today with a 66/1 shocker Auroras Encore winning ... Some stats for you ..:- Only 2 horses fell all race 6 jockeys were unseated. A number were pulled up 17 horses finished. All horses were still standing going to the 8th fence which has never happened in the history of the race! Most importantly there were no fatalities which was fantastic news..... Its clear that the new structure of the fences moving to plastic from unforgiving birch has made a huge difference.. and possibly the shortened start helping to minimise early fallers... so do people think the officials at Aintree have got it about right now when considering unique test versus horse safety or have they gone to far now and made it too safe ? What are peoples views? I really hope they leave it all alone now ...
I think today's race prove's they did the right things, no fatalities or injuries is terrific news as everyone know's it's à race fraught with danger. Hopefully now it will be left alone as going by today's race it was succesful.
Really hope they leave it alone too. Good to see all the horses came back safe. I think the shortened run to the first fence probably made a huge difference, there seemed to be less of the cavalry charge start seen in previous years. Thought the C4 coverage was poor in many areas. With the Beeb you felt closer to the horses in running, C4 had too many distant shots. The "old" C4 commentators were not as good and when Ian Bartlett did his section you could hear the difference clearly. The 3 "blokes" in the studio were too far away from the action and felt they were not at Aintree, their studio could have been anywhere.
I was giving a big thumbs up on one of the other threads to channel 4 coverage at Aintree but I agree with what you say - the bbc had much closer camera angles when in running and it just seems better put together. But there you go! Channel 4 have improved in my opinion since they started at the turn of the year with the new team and have upped their game!
The modifications worked today in that there were no equine/human injuries. However watching the early stages of the race with no fallers I got an increasing sense of dread in that a mass pile up was only a bit of bad luck away. Thankfully my fears were unfounded. Don't get me wrong I don't want to see fallers in any race (not like some of the pricks standing near me on course on Thursday) but without that thinning out of the field I'd still be concerned that in future renewals that a front running faller could spark carnage in behind. I think it's inevitable that the field will be reduced to 30 within the next 5 years now that the fences are more forgiving. As for the Channel 4 coverage I thought they did a grand job. Clare Balding is an excellent presenter IMO and I'm even beginning to warm to Mick Fitz. Richie Persad is still a knob though. I remember when C4 took over the cricket coverage from the beeb there was plenty forecasting impending doom. The reality was that they brought plenty of innovation to cricket coverage and kept Richie Benaud.
I thought the race as a spectacle was poor. I for one dont want to see horse and riders injured, but what made this race special was the unique challenge to both horse and rider. I accept that after recent fatalities certain changes had to be made, but looking at todays race the horses were virtually hurdling the fences. If you listen to what B Geraghty said afterwards " I saw lots of horses making mistakes that in previous years would have put them on the floor " tells me that the changes to this once unique challenge have gone a step too far.
